Switzerland has scored first place in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 issued by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum according to Mario Brossi, North American senior representative for Switzerland Trade and Investment Promotion. The alpine nation has switched places with the United States, which held first place since the WEF introduced the survey in its current form in 2004, Brossi said.
The survey covers 133 countries with rankings calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey. The latter is a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the Forum together with its network of partner institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the surveyed countries.
Earlier this year the 2009 World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the Institute for Management Development listed Switzerland as retaining its 4th place ranking globally and 1st in Europe among the world’s 57 most competitive countries.
”Switzerland has traditionally posted high marks in key FDI investment criteria,” Brossi commented, ”and these two studies are among the most important. Surveys on softer decision factors such as safety and lifestyle also place Switzerland in a favorable light, including the Mercer Human Resources 2009 Quality of Living Survey of 215 cities, where Zurich, Geneva and Berne are in the top 10.”
Brossi noted that during 2008 Switzerland posted at least 37 new and 12 expanded projects from North America and an additional 76 new projects from other countries around the world. Among some of the significant investors where Blue Coat Systems, Disney Research, Ecolab, Kelly Services, Parker Hannifin, Swarmcast, Alcon, EBay, Microsoft and Yahoo!.
